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Thursday, April 28, 2011

Religious women use contraception regularly

Religious women use contraception regularly, report says

Most sexually active women use contraception, regardless of their religious beliefs, says a report from the Guttmacher Institute, an organization working to advance reproductive and sexual health in the U.S. and worldwide.

"Regardless of religious affiliation, the majority of women use highly effective contraception methods, so any efforts to restrict access to these methods is going to impact these populations," said Rachel K. Jones, the lead author.

The report was based on a U.S. government survey that represented the nation. The data came from 2006-2008 interviews of over 7,000 women aged 15-44.

It found that 69% of sexually active women from any denomination were using highly effective birth control methods including sterilization, the pill or other hormonal method, or an intrauterine device (IUD). In addition, almost all have reported contraceptive use at some point, a figure that is similar among Catholic women.

Another key finding was that 68% of Catholics use one of the highly effective methods, but only 2% rely on natural family planning. That number is comparable to 73% of Mainline Protestants and 74% of Evangelicals.

"A lot of times, religion is either not associated with contraception at all, or, in the case of the Catholic church, being against contraception." Jones added. "In the real world, women who have religious beliefs and who attend church also use contraception."

In addition, male or female sterilization was most common in the Evangelical church; more than four in 10 women of this denomination use the method.

And marital status did not change things.

"Across religious denominations, married women are using highly effective contraceptive methods," she said.

Said Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America,“These findings show yet again that birth control is a common practice — and a common need — for women of different faiths and backgrounds.

"As Congress considers yet another effort to bar Planned Parenthood from providing family planning services through federal health programs, it should listen to the message these findings convey.”